Queens of the Age of Chivalry (England's Medieval Queens, 3)

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You can tell how much effort and work she puts into these books. The overwhelming amount of research she includes really portrays in these masterpieces of historical writing. I mean, the detail! Insane. I need a bookshelf of them!

Aimed at the general reader, this rich and robust account will appeal to readers interested in medieval England and some of its most fascinating royal women, whose stories are often left out of the history books.” — Booklist Alison weir is an excellent storyteller in her fiction books, and brings that flair to this non fiction account of the Queens. She gives us an insight into the daily lives of the queens. We learn how they spent their money, where that money came from and the strength they needed to live in turbulent times. Her descriptions of the the palaces made me feel as if I was there. I was astounded at that vast sums the women spent on clothes, food, trips and impressing foreign dignitaries. I admit I was also primed to like Isabella’s story even before this book, as once upon a time I used to be a preteen obsessed with Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings book series — the seven-book epic chronicling the events that lead to a 100-year conflicts between England and France, the end of the Capet dynasty and the riee of the Valois dynasty in France, the end of Edward II reign in England, supplanted by his unhappy wife Queen Isabella, and the start of Edward III reign. Isabella and both Edwards, the Despensers, Roger Mortimer — all those names to me already felt familiar and I was invested from the beginning.Against this dramatic milieu, Alison Weir describes the lives and reigns of five queen consorts: Marguerite of France was seventeen when she became the second wife of sixty-year-old King Edward I. Isabella of France, laterknown as “the She-Wolf,” dethroned her husband, Edward II, and ruled England with her lover. In contrast, Philippa of Hainault was a popular queen to the deposed king’s son Edward III. Anne of Bohemia was queen to Richard II, but she died young and childless.Isabella of Valois became Richard’s second wife when she was only six years old, but was caught up in events when he was violently overthrown.

Using personal letters and wonderfully vivid sources, Alison Weir evokes the lives of five remarkable Marguerite of France, Isabella of France, Philippa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia and Isabella of Valois. This book recounts the stories of five queen consorts of Plantagenet period, during the age of chivalry in the fourteenth century . They are Marguerite of France, wife of Edward I, Isabella of France (Edward II), Philippa of Hainault (Edward III), Anne of Bohemia, first wife of Richard II, and his second wife, Isabella of Valois From one of Britain's best selling historians, a sweeping and magisterial history of the extraordinary lives of five queens in England's turbulent Age of Chivalry Queens Of The Age Of Chivalry’ by Alison Weir is a masterpiece. I have read many of her fiction books on the lives of royal women, and those in the royal courts, but this is the first non-fiction account I have come across. Alison Weir, through meticulous research, brings us the lives of five Queens who lived through England’s Age of Chivalry. Covering the years 1299-1409, we meet five remarkable women, whose stories have never been told in such great detail and with such passion. She shows us that they were remarkable women in their own right, and not just mere appendages to the Kings, or pawns in political games. We meet Marguerite of France, Isabella of France, Phillipa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia and Isabella of Valois.It’s customary for the medieval history to be presented through the viewpoint of men, as it was a time of even noble and royal women being little but chattel, men’s property, and the wombs to propagate dynasties. They were who history happened to, not the makers of it. In Queens of the Age of Chivalry, however, Alison Weir tries to bring them from the shadows behind the throne into the spotlight, with varying success. Medieval queens were seen as mere dynastic trophies, yet many of the Plantagenet queens of the High Middle Ages dramatically broke away from the restrictions imposed on their sex, as Alison Weir shows in this gripping group biography of England's fourteenth-century consorts. Only Isabella of France made her own story, and as such, most of the book is dedicated to her. Marguerite of France and Anne of Bohemia seemed to have had happy marriages and little to no scandal surrounding them. They were remembered fondly, but seemed to not have any lasting effect on the country their husbands ruled. Philippa of Hainault had some interesting tidbits to her, such as her spending and securing of matches, and Isabella of Valois was more of a tragic child than a Queen in her own right. I haven't read the previous two books in this series (Queens of the Conquest, & Queens of the Crusades) but they are definitely on my TBR list now. Overall, it's a fantastic read, it never gets academically dry, there's lots of information, & I actually have a much better understanding of this time period now. Absolutely recommended. 5 stars